hard
length between her legs as he drew long, drugging kisses out of her. Running
her shaky hands up his back, she tried to still her wildly beating heart but it
was no use. Between Karson’s intoxicating kisses and the fact that he was about
to see her breasts, her heart was beating louder than a drum.
Parting only an inch,
Karson cupped her face in his hands as he held her gaze. “You’re shaking. Are
you sure, baby? It’s okay if you don’t want to.”
“No, I’m just nervous.”
His brows cocked up as he
ran his thumb along her bottom lip. “You have nothing to be nervous about. It’s
just me. I love you.”
It was the first time he’d
said it outright like that, and it totally stunned her. Usually he would say, he
was falling or that he was completely sprung for her, but never had
he said those three words. Her stomach went nuts with butterflies, and her
heart pounded against her chest as she held his gaze. “I love you, too.”
His grin grew as he said,
“I thought you were going to leave me hanging.”
She laughed. “You know I
love you. Isn’t it obvious?”
Dropping his head to hers,
he slowly nodded before moving his lips along hers. “Yeah, I’ve known, but
hearing you say it is better than scoring the winning goal, Lacey. I love you
so damn much.”
He went to kiss her, but
she knew it couldn’t go any further without telling him. Placing her finger
against his lip, she whispered, “I need to tell you something before we go on.”
“Yeah?”
Biting into her lip, she
knew she just had to say it. This was going to happen, and giving him a warning
would be best. “You remember how I had breast cancer?”
He slowly nodded. “Yeah,
it didn’t come back, did it? Is that why you had a bad time at your dad’s?” he
asked, his eyes filling with panic as he placed his hands on the bed to push
himself back on his haunches.
“No, not at all,” she
said, trying to calm him down as she sat up, crossing her legs and placing her
hands on his chest to soothe him. “It can’t come back in my breasts, Karson…
Since I don’t have any breasts. I had to have a double mastectomy a year ago.”
Without realizing it, her
eyes filled with tears and she looked down at the bed to hide them. She
couldn’t look at the shock on his face. It hurt her too much because she wasn’t
sure what it meant. Was he thinking of an easy way out? Was he trying to figure
out how to get out of bed with her without hurting her feelings? As seconds
turned into minutes, she took in deep breaths and finally couldn’t take it
anymore. Looking up, she met his confused gaze as he asked, “What? What do you
mean? I’ve touched your boobs. I’ve grabbed them when we’ve made out.”
Her lip quivered as she
slowly nodded. “I have a bra on that looks and feel like real breasts, but they
aren’t.”
Lacey could see the
confusion on his face, but she could also see the pure love in his eyes.
Slowly, she reached for the bottom of her shirt and pulled it up and over her
head, exposing herself in a way that no one had ever seen. Not even Rachel had
seen her without clothing. She knew about the double mastectomy, so did her dad
and Grady, but no one had ever seen it except for the doctors and nurses. Not
looking in his eyes, she slowly undid the back of her bra and let it fall down
her arms, allowing him to see her as tears welled up in her eyes. Looking down
at her own chest, she hated the cancer that had taken away her breasts. They looked
deflated, only skin from where she had been a full B cup shriveled up against
her chest, with large, long pink scars going down the middle. She didn’t have
nipples, just skin, and she knew it was disgusting, but she hoped that Karson
would still love her.
Biting the inside of her
cheek, she knew she couldn’t prolong it anymore, so she looked up to find
Karson taking in every detail of her. When his eyes met hers, a single tear
rolled down her cheek as she whispered, “I know I
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